BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Rise On Buyout Speculation

This week there were reports that BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) wanted to get a deal done as quickly as possible, and investors seem to be pretty happy about them. Shares of the company’s stock rose another 2 percent at the NASDAQ today after climbing on Wednesday after the initial report from The Wall Street Journal was released.

BlackBerry needs it to be over quickly

But not all analysts are happy about the company’s public decision to look for buyers, and the emphasis here is on “public.” Some believe that BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s sales will just erode more quickly as consumers and valuable enterprise customers hold off to wait and see what happens to the company.

CanaccordGenuity analyst Michael Walkley issued a report today with the results of his latest checks of BlackBerry sales. He said they indicate that sales of all of the BlackBerry 10 devices are extremely weak and that shipments of the older BlackBerry 7 models are declining sharply. Walkley lowered their sales estimates for BlackBerry smartphones. He maintained a Sell rating on BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) and an $8 per share price target on the stock.

BlackBerry already talking to buyers

The struggling company has been said to be talking with potential buyers already, although it isn’t known specifically who those buyers might be. There’s speculation that Prem Watsa, former board member and chief of Fairfax Financial Holdings, might swoop in and save the company, although there have been no official signs that he will do this.

There had been speculation that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) might be interested, but its deal to buy Nokia’s devices division makes a bid for BlackBerry unlikely. And what about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)? It could possibly make a play to buy all or some of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), particularly if it really wants to appeal to enterprise customers.